Photo ID: 113547 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Granby (7,325 ft) Granby, CO 46 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF What a difference 24 hours makes! The previous day, there was hard any snow on the ground here in the Colorado high country. But this morning, snow is finally falling. A westbound BNSF oil train is, for some reason, being run through the siding at Granby. It is not meeting anything. DS-378 just ran it in and out of the siding. Meanwhile, a beautiful new platform sits at Granby, ready for the Zephyr. The platform is heated to make it safer, although it appears a couple of heating element panels are not currently working. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113546 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Moffat Tunnel (West Portal) Grand County, CO 68 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific A seen that has change a lot over the years, and yet, at the same time, is timeless. For nearly a century, trains have passed through the scene, running through the 6.2 mile long Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide. The eastbound Zephyr, with a borrowed UP C44ACM, pass by the platform at the Winter Park Ski Resort, ready for 10-12 minutes of darkness ahead. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113545 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tabernash (9,830 ft) Grand County, CO 68 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific The siding at Tabernash is pretty unique as the main and siding follow very different grades. There are even some privately-owned homes on land between the main and the siding! During the height of the coal era, about 20 years ago, it was quite common to find an eastbound coal load tied down on the main at Tabernash, with other traffic running through the siding. This is because there is a grade crossing on the siding at Tabernash. A coal train tied down would block access to those homes between the two tracks. But now, it is wide open sailing on the main for the eastbound Zephyr. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113544 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Granby (7,325 ft) Granby, CO 72 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific The station stop at Granby is usually a very brief stop for the Zephyr. And today is no different. Conductors work to very quickly get two passengers on the train. From the time the train came to a stop to the time the train was highballing and starting to pull was around 60 seconds! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113543 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Granby (7,325 ft) Granby, CO 43 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific UP 5833, which replaced a P42DC on the eastbound Zephyr in Salt Lake City, has a ditch light out as the Zephyr moves along the recently-completed extended, heated, platform here at the Granby depot. Two passengers stand on the depot, waiting to board the train to head east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113542 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 39 (MP 113.5, 294 ft) Grand County, CO 30 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific The eastbound Zephyr emerges from Tunnel 39, which essentially marks the east end of Little Gore Canyon. The county road that runs (relatively) parallel to the tracks through here is located on top of the vertical rock wall in the background. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113541 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Little Gore Canyon Grand County, CO 70 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific The eastbound Zephyr, led by a substitute UP C44ACM and a standard Amtrak P42DC, rolls east along the impressive near-vertical walls of Little Gore Canyon. The train is between Tunnels 40 and 39. As you can see, the level of the Colorado River is a bit low. That is typical this time of year, but low snow levels from this winter, the river is likely not going to increase much this year. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113540 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed State Bridge Eagle County, CO 38 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just east of State Bridge, the tracks follow along the Colorado River. However, the country road makes an impressive climb up and over the top of the hill. You can see a small bus making that climb above the Zephyr. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113539 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed State Bridge Eagle County, CO 59 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Zephyr has a pretty consistent order in its consist. After the power and baggage car, the train typically has a transition sleeper, two sleepers, a dining car, a longue car, and two or three coaches. On this afternoon, it turns out there is a transition sleeper deadheading on the tail end. If you are unfamiliar with the difference between a sleeper and a transition sleeper, this shot really demonstrates the difference. At one end of the car, the door between cars is actually on the first level, rather than on the second level. A transition sleeper is the housing for the Amtrak personnel that ride the train from Chicago to Emeryville (and back), in the case of the California Zephyr. When car attendants, chefs, etc are off duty, they have quarters in the transition sleeper. The door on the end on the first level allows Amtrak personnel to enter the baggage car from the train. It would also allow for a transition between two-level Superliners and single level cars, if there were such a train with that configuration. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113538 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Yarmony to Bond (MP 124.6 to MP 127.0) Eagle County, CO 56 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific Just west of State Bridge, the eastbound Zephyr wraps around from Bond on the single track mainline, just below CO-131. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113537 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS127 (East Bond) Eagle County, CO 33 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak, Union Pacific I've always been interested to try to get some shots from the east end of Bond. The west end is very accessible and pretty easy to shoot. The east end, however, is wrapped back around along the Colorado River, out of view from any roads. I was happy to finally have success on this afternoon with the eastbound Zephyr (led by a UP C44ACM) leaving the east end of Bond. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113527 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed State Bridge Eagle County, CO 73 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Colorado River has grown a bit in size since we started with it back in Byers Canyon. That was almost 40 miles back to the east. Here, the westbound Zephyr passes underneath "State Bridge". In 1890, a wooden truss bridge was built by the Colorado State Engineer's program across the Colorado River to improvement transportation in the area. Locals referred to it as the "state bridge". The name stuck, and even after being replaced by a more modern steel bridge, the area is still referred to as State Bridge. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113526 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 39 (MP 113.5, 294 ft) Grand County, CO 82 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Chasing the Zephyr west on the Moffat can be a bit of challenge. Even though the train, in general, has to go quite a bit slower than cars, the rails actually have a more direct route in several places when the road has to circumvent the terrain a bit more. After shooting the train in Byers Canyon, the next opportunity was here at Little Gore Canyon, 26 (rail) miles to the west. The Zephyr is just emerging from Tunnel 39 in this shot. Little Gore's big brother, Gore Canyon, is just out of site behind the mountain to the left. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113525 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Byers Canyon Grand County, CO 43 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As the westbound Zephyr rolls along in Byers canyon, we can see the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. This is close the start of the Colorado River, which will continue to flow all the way to the Gulf of California. In this shot, note that a fairly significant section of rock face gave way and fell down to the river below. The rocks being much brighter shade of orange, having not been exposed to the elements until relatively recently. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113524 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 14, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Byers Canyon Grand County, CO 65 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Most of the canyons the tracks of the former Rio Grande run through are only accessible by rail, trail (in some instances), or rafting. However, Byers canyon is a nice exception. With the tracks running on the north side of the canyon, US-40 is paved and runs on the south side of the canyon. Here, the westbound Zephyr makes its way through the canyon with a colorful pair leading the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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